A new chapter in the modern Mickey Mouse TV era begins this week! Mickey Mouse Funhouse premieres with half-hour special “Mickey The Brave” this Friday July 16th at 7:30pm on Disney Junior. More new episodes start Friday August 20th at 8am on Disney Channel and Disney Junior. Executive Producer Phil Weinstein discusses kicking-off a new Mickey series and what the famous mouse and his pals mean to him and millions around the world.

Jackson Murphy: You worked on Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and Roadster Racers, which became Mixed-Up Adventures, before jumping here to the “Funhouse”. How long ago did you know that this show was coming?

Phil Weinstein: Let’s see… it was around 2019. That’s when we started putting it all together.

JM: And what is that transition process like – now you’ve done this a couple of times – going from one Mickey series to another?

PW: It’s the same classic characters, but it is a new series. It has a new look and a new feeling. But it has all our familiar friends: Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Daisy, Goofy and Pluto. The thing that launched Disney Junior was “Mickey Mouse Clubhouse”. With the world, we wanted to sort of find this sweet spot between what “Clubhouse” was and what “Roadster Racers” and “Mixed-Up Adventures” were and kind of find something in the middle and get inspired by classic Disney artists like Eyvind Earle, Mary Blair and Freddie Moore. We really took a look at the design of the theme parks and see if we could inject some of that Disney DNA into the look of our Funhouse world.

JM: I like the feel of the Funhouse, named Funny. I like that you brought him to life. You didn’t just say, “Alright, we’re gonna make a house and they’re gonna go in it and they go places.” You actually make this character come alive with a face and a voice and movement and depth. Why did you decide to give Funny the Funhouse some real depth here?

PW: There were a lot of reasons. It was really important for us that Funny was not a parent and not a teacher or a grown-up, but Mickey’s pal. In order to be a pal, you have to be sort of a sentient, talking thing. That was the beginning of it. For Funny to be our portal to these other worlds was a different aspect of it. It allowed us to take Funny and have Funny go with Mickey and the gang wherever they go.

JM: And in that first episode, “Mickey The Brave”, you do something really interesting with Funny. When you bring him along on their first adventure, you include the Disney theme music and fireworks when Funny turns into a castle – which I thought was such a funny and clever moment. Did you need to get approval from the heads of the Mouse House in order to do that?

PW: (laughs) We most certainly did! When we build these things, we use temp score and temp music. That was an idea we had in the temp music right from the beginning. We thought, “Well, I don’t know if they’re really gonna let us use it” but we asked and they took a look at it and they gave us their blessing. But you’re right, it went all the way up the food chain to get the approval to do that.

JM: I can imagine because it kind of comes out of nowhere but it’s so iconic and feels so gutsy for you to do it. But I’m so glad you did. This half-hour special “Mickey The Brave” has Farfus the Purple Dragon. It’s very engaging. Why did you want to start-off with this concept for this show?

PW: There were a few things we wanted to establish. First: where is this place? Where is this Funhouse Forest? To me, I always thought of it like I live in Los Angeles and Big Bear is a couple hours away. If L.A. was Hot Dog Hills then Big Bear would be Funhouse Forest. It’s nearby but it’s a couple hours away. The first step was: how do we get to the forest? We’ve done a lot of racecars and trains and all kinds of vehicles. I really thought, “Let’s try something completely different.” We had this idea of a flying rollercoaster. Getting from the Hot Dog Hills part of town to Funhouse Forest via the floating coaster and floating cars was Point A.

Point B was, “How do we launch off into a world?” That was the business that takes place inside of Funny. That was inspired by the way things work in The Haunted Mansion. When you go down the elevator, the room kind of stretches. We have a stretching room that reveals these adventure doors above. And going through a medieval land and meeting a dragon, we thought, “What a fun challenge. Let’s see if we can make a dragon not scary.” He has to be pre-school friendly… but also evoke feelings of “Oh my gosh. What do we have in our mind’s eye of a dragon? We gotta capture this thing.” But it turns out that maybe… I don’t wanna spoil anything… but maybe he’s not so scary after all.

JM: He’s a sweet character. My cousin is three years old. He is obsessed with Mickey Mouse and is going to love this show. He also lines-up all of his cars in a row, one in front of the other right next to each other…

PW: (laughs)

JM: …which is what you do! And then you do the flying rollercoaster. But you have The Sensational Six line-up their cars. That detail is so spot on. Do you look at and study childhood behavior to really get some of those details and relatable factors for kids watching these episodes?

PW: You know the company is terrific at that, and they really have a group who actually does do that. And they keep us in the loop. So when we’re coming up with stories and premises, we go through a process where that’s part of it. Let’s make sure the social-emotional thing is there and let’s look out for things that kids in that age range enjoy. We’re always looking for feedback from that audience and that really does help inform the storytelling. Obviously we understand it has to feel safe for that audience and friendly – but we also want it to be widely entertaining. We wanna make a show that’s great for our audience but also something that us grown-ups who are making the show will also enjoy.

JM: You mentioned how everything stretches and you see all the possibilities for Mickey and pals to go into all the different rooms. Was there one storyline we’re gonna see this season that you wanted to make sure you got in?

PW: (laughs) I don’t wanna spoil anything… but we did sit around and we have these meetings of, “Where would you go?” Should we go to the wild west? Should we go to the past? Should we go underwater? We explore all these thoughts of pho-real places you would visit and we think about, “What would be a fantasy place to visit?” There’s a little bit of a tease of things that will be coming in the series.

JM: Very good. When you’re mapping out these stories, how is it trying to balance the screen time of everyone? Obviously kids wanna see a lot of Mickey, but they also wanna see a lot of Donald, Goofy, Minnie, Pluto and Daisy. How do you balance the screen time of these iconic characters and make sure they’re kind of even throughout the episodes?

PW: You are so right on. That’s a great question. We will frequently go down the rabbit hole where perhaps we have a Mickey focused story and a Minnie focused story and we’re starting to put it together in storyboards and… always a question will come-up, “What about Pluto? What happened to him?” Or, “How about Teddy?” He’s our new doghouse character. It’s a lot of back and forth making sure there is that balance because we see it all the time. There’s always a character or characters that are part of an individual episode that are the main focus – but their pals are always around. It really is a tricky balance to keep them present, no matter who’s featured in that particular episode.

JM: You wanna see everybody! And you’re in a unique situation doing this for Disney Junior because these episodes are going to be played over and over again. I’m sure so many families will watch these episodes over and over again. Do you think about that as you’re creating the episodes and the storylines? As opposed to, “You know what? This is only gonna air once.” Is there a different mentality there?

PW: Yeah. Absolutely. There’s a repetitive pattern to certain things. I feel like a young audience loves the Hot Dog Dance. That’s a great example. We have those kinds of things happening too. The characters pick up their backpacks and off they go on an adventure up the stairs through a door – and they always return home at the end. That idea that they go off on an adventure and they come home at the end of the day – that’s a theme that will recur. And we have our own little dance break in the series… it’s called the Stretch Breaks.

JM: And when the gang comes back, there’s a little memento as well. That’s a sweet thing because you always wanna remember where you were and where you come from and think about that for a long time. So I like that memento element. And speaking of special things and memories relating to Mickey Mouse, is there a vivid memory you have about growing up and maybe watching Mickey on a series or special?

PW: For me, what I remember – I think a lot of people have their first real exposure seeing the character at a theme park. When I was a little kid, my parents took us down to Disney World and I remember the first time I saw Mickey in costume. As a little kid, it becomes real. It takes your breath away. I remember that, and I’ve carried that feeling with me all the way all these years. What’s fascinating about [The Sensational Six] is that globally people understand these characters. You know Donald is a cranky sort of guy and everybody understands that Goofy is a well-intentioned goofball. Mickey is an earnest person. It’s odd that those character themes are built into our minds. When we’re writing the stories, we try to keep those present: stay within the characters that everybody understands.

JM: I’m glad you still have those memories from the park. Just today, I pulled out a picture of me and Chef Mickey from a restaurant when I was at Disney World when I was five. I love looking at that.

PW: Right? And you remember! That’s the thing. You’re like, “Oh my gosh.” (laughs)

JM: I know. It’s amazing. And I had no front teeth at that time, either.

PW: (laughs)

JM: I feel like the Funhouse can be turned into a theme park attraction. How would you feel about that?

PW: (laughs) You’re not gonna get any argument from me! That would be fantastic.

JM: I think kids would embrace it completely and open-up all the different doors. And I’m sure you would be first in line to go see it and help out putting it together.

PW: Yeah. Absolutely. It would be cool.